Monday — The Nuggets are getting that ramped up this week. They took the end of April to finish up some scouting in preparation for June’s NBA draft. Slow-rolling the search hasn’t hurt the Nuggets one bit given the fact there are only two teams looking for coaches — Orlando being the other. There are a number of viable candidates out there and not enough positions for them all to fit into, so having to rush the process due to a ton of demand isn’t an issue. And yes, they’ll likely chat with Scott Brooks in addition to others. Brooks has accomplished too much to not at least talk with him about the opening, so it’s expected to happen. Where the search ultimately goes, we’ll see. Read more…

FILE – In this March 25, 2015, file photo, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) reacts after scoring during an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers in Salt Lake City. The Jazz wrapped up a better-than-expected season Wednesday, April 15, and now look to a future in which expectations have risen. (Rick Bowmer, The Associated Press)

During the regular season I do a bi-weekly mailbag. But just because the season ends doesn’t mean the questions do. Many of you have asked me questions about the team on Twitter, at my handle: @dempseypost.

I’ve answered some here, and will continue to at least semi-regularly do so as long as you guys keep ’em coming. This is the first installment of the very unoriginal name: Twitterbag.

@dempseypost serious question, do you think we lost the Gobert-Foye trade? Seems like we got fleeced.

Josh: This is a loaded question. First off, it was a Gobert-Erick Green trade, but we know what you’re getting at. The initial issue stems from the annual problem the NBA has always had with draft night trades: The picks are swapped, but since the league doesn’t finalize those trades until after the draft ends, the two teams have to pick a player for the other. Consequently, it looks like one player was traded for another, when, in fact, each team is instructed who to pick when the traded selections come up.

So, in other words, Utah told the Nuggets to pick Rudy Gobert with the 27th pick in the first round of the 2013 draft. The Nuggets then instructed Utah to pick Erick Green with 46th pick, a second-round selection. It’s hard to know what the Nuggets would have done with that pick had they kept it.

Andre Roberson, left, in a game this season against the Lakers (EPA/Larry W. Smith)

Given the chance to snap back, Andre Roberson resisted. Perhaps wisely. But few would have blamed him if he did.

When he announced his intention to skip his senior season at CU and enter the NBA draft, it was met with swift and decisive denouncement — almost universally. Draft projections had him going in the second round, and that’s not where the money is. Most everyone questioned how he could see that and not return to CU to improve his stock.

Arron Afflalo shoots over the Oklahoma City defense in Game 5 of the Nuggets-Thunder playoff series last season.

OKLAHOMA CITY – From time-to-time you’ll catch a Nuggets player utter “we owe them one,” their most subtle way of actually saying: WE WANT REVENGE.

This morning, the Nuggets skipped the subtleties. Oklahoma City unceremoniously shoved the Nuggets from last season’s playoffs and tonight, the first of three games against OKC this season, is their first time to – sorta, kinda – right the wrongs.

Asked if the Nuggets were revenge-minded, point guard Ty Lawson said, “Yeah, a little bit. They beat us, they were the team that knocked us out, so we want to play well against them and get a win.”

Rick Carlisle (and fans) complain about a call in the first half against the Thunder in Game 5.

In so many ways Dirk Nowitzki has played the fisherman in these playoffs, looking to hook fans and critics’ hearts while also desperately trying to net a championship ring.

He’s 1-for-2 so far.

The residue from a failed attempt at a title in 2006 is washed away now. In fact, the Mavericks’ star has been cleansed so thoroughly from that collapse that we can now clearly see Nowitzki for what he’s always been – one of the NBA’s greatest players. A native of Germany, he’s almost certainly the greatest import ever to play in the league.

And yet, as he continues to win over the fans that turned their backs on him five years ago, there is another, maybe greater resurrection story on the Mavericks’ roster – that of their coach, Rick Carlisle.

Mavericks guard J.J. Barea drives against Oklahoma City's James Harden in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

In the history of our universe, 58 women have been declared as our universe’s representative of the female gender … and a gentleman in Texas named Jose Juan Barea is dating one of them. This, of course, would make him the envy of many men.

But today we stand in awe of Barea and it has nothing to do with Zuleyka Rivera, Miss Universe 2006. Barea, the listed-at-6-feet-but-come-on point guard for the Dallas Mavericks, put on a show in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

Yes, of course, Dirk Nowitzki was the story in the Mavs win (one of the greatest basketball performances I’ve seen since playing NBA Jam on Sega Genesis), but let’s take a look at Barea, who tallied 21 points and three rebounds in just 16 minutes, shooting 8-for-12 from the field. During one stretch in the fourth quarter, he scored 12-straight Dallas points.

EDMOND, Okla. – Any coach or player will tell you the best lessons learned are the ones that come without having to lose to learn them.

The Thunder learned its lesson on how not to guard Nuggets center Nene on Sunday night. And frankly, the first lesson is, well, to actually guard him.

Nene met little resistance from Thunder defenders in Sunday night’s Game 1 of this first-round playoff series. He routinely raced around and sprinted past Thunder bigs, most notably Kendrick Perkins. He routinely got deep position in the post. And that position resulted in a myriad of dunks that even brought some ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ out of the home town crowd at Oklahoma City Arena.

Thunder coach Scott Brooks is well aware that things could get chippy between his team and the Nuggets.

EDMOND, Okla. — Another day, another set of questions for Oklahoma City head coach Scott Brooks to answer about the chatter coming out of Nuggets camp.

The backdrop is this: A couple of weeks ago Nuggets guard Raymond Felton expressed a desire to face Oklahoma City in the playoffs due to what he said was “trash talking” coming from Thunder players.

Then Nuggets head coach George Karl took the torch and moved the discourse forward saying on separate occasions that “There’s no question there’s a cockiness to Oklahoma City…” and “We know what they were saying after the game here. We know what they were saying. We know. I’m not going to bring it to the public, but we know.”

Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.